FBI SAYS IT MISSED SIGNS OF LOTTERY RIGGING BY FORMER FAYETTE CO. J.P.

  

Officials with the FBI say a 2006 inquiry into a lottery won by a Fayette County Justice of the Peace failed to uncover a jackpot rigging conspiracy that occurred over several years.

The FBI opened an inquiry into former Fayette County Justice of the Peace Tommy Tipton after an informant reported that Tipton had $450,000 in consecutively marked bills that he was trying to exchange.

Tipton told the FBI that he had won the Colorado lottery but was trying to hide the winnings from his wife.

The FBI believed him and closed its case. But investigators failed to uncover that Tipton's older brother, Eddie, was a lottery programmer who had built the computer that picked the winning combination.

Eddie Tipton has been linked to rigged jackpots in four more states.

Earlier this year Tommy Tipton’s trial was reset for September 11^th.  The trial for Eddie Tipton is slated for July 10^th.

Tommy Tipton retired as Fayette County Justice of the Peace in 2015.